Most Norwegian public cultural institutions experienced a growth in public funding during the years 2005 to 2015. As an example, the three state financed theatres have increased their state funding by fifty percent during this period. Since then, the funding has not increased considerably in real terms.
Since the millennium, there has been a considerable establishment of large local and regional culture houses. From 2003 until 2018 municipalities have spent more than 13 billion NOK on the establishment of local culture houses1.
In the museums sector another important reform has taken place. The reform aims to reduce the number of museum units at the regional level and to strengthen the existing units professionally and administratively. The reform, which is often termed “consolidation”, has focused on mergers between museums in the same regions and on the establishment of national networks (see also chapter 4.2.2).
Compared to other public sectors in Norway, there has been relatively little outsourcing of activities and privatisation of institutions in the culture sector.
1 Numbers collected by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten: http://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/Kulturhus-boom-til-nesten-14-milliarder-7497309.html
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